Exam 39: The Nervous System

You have just completed final preparations for a party you are hosting this evening. With thirty minutes to spare, you collapse into a chair and prop your feet up only to realize you need to empty your bladder. What part of your nervous system is in control?

At the synapse, some neurotransmitters open ion channels that make the interior of the postsynaptic neuron more negative. Thus, these neurotransmitters produce a(n) postsynaptic potential (IPSP).

Damage to the right frontal cortex may produce paralysis on the side of the body.

An influx of calcium ions causes vesicles to fuse with the presynaptic membrane and release neurotransmitter into the synapse.

After an accident, a professional musician cannot associate any of the instruments he has played with the sounds they make. What part of his brain is most likely damaged?

In an unstimulated neuron, the _ _ concentration is higher inside the cell than outside.

The stronger the stimulus, the more powerful the action potential.

Individuals using drugs such as cocaine over extended periods of time find that they need increasing amounts just to feel okay. Why?

All sensory information, with the exception of olfaction, must pass though the as it travels to the cerebral cortex.

A person responds to touching a hot pan by pulling his hand away before he feels pain. Why does it take longer for him to feel pain?

A neurotransmitter associated with pleasurable feelings is dopamine.

To survive the winter, some birds, such as the black- capped chickadee, must locate caches of seeds it buries each fall. Which region of the brain allows the birds to remember the exact locations of these stashes?

Sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system responses usually oppose each other.

Explain why most adults do not have to think about how to walk even though they did when they were toddlers.

People with damage to the hippocampus seem to be unable to remember recent events even though their memory of events before the damage remains intact. This seems to indicate that the hippocampus is involved in

Taking a nap after meals is probably a good idea because it allows the body to digest the food as a result of the activities of the nervous system.

Dolphins use echolocation to maneuver around objects quickly and precisely to capture prey. Thus, you would expect them to have a larger- than- normal

Smooth muscle responses are controlled by the somatic nervous system.

Axons

Myelin speeds the conduction of action potentials along a neuron by